VA SHORE: At Northampton meeting, pastor says school superintendent change 'may be for the benefit of our county'

Sep. 12, 2013

Superintendent Walter R. Clemons

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Staff Writer

EASTVILLE — A longtime area minister blasted embattled School Superintendent Walter R. Clemons at a Northampton County Board of Supervisors’ meeting Tuesday night, alleging Clemons refused to address a group of four dozen attendees at a school PTA meeting regarding concerns about new bus routes.

The Rev. Kelvin F. Jones, pastor of First Baptist Church in Capeville, said the community would be served better if Clemons left, saying he has “no vested interest.”

“We need to evaluate the validity, the sincerity, and the true investment of the superintendent to our children and our community,” he told the Northampton County Board of Supervisors.

“And maybe both the bus route issue and the changing of the superintendent may be for the benefit of our county.”

Clemons was “at a meeting with 45 of the persons who pay his salary, yet when asked to make a simple comment or greet them, he blatantly says, ‘No,’ ” Jones said.

“Many of the parishioners that I serve as well as others have concerns that we have a superintendent who has no vested interest in this community other than the fact that he picks up a check once a month.”

Clemons, who has been criticized for not living in the county whose school system he directs, had left earlier in the meeting. He is in the third year of a three-year contract.

His future in the county all ready is unclear — 80 percent of Northampton voters last fall approved a referendum allowing school board elections on Nov. 5. Five of the seven seats are opposed.

Supervisors unanimously voted to shelve a series of budget requests from Clemons until the bus issue is resolved.

Jones pledged to keep the issue visible.

“The fiasco is not going away,” he said.

Parents of students last week said they were upset with recent bus route changes that require longer walks to stops, and made allegations of hazardous driving.

Jones said he was following a bus that pulled into the median crossover, and discharged students onto both sides of U.S. Route 13.

Although he and the two cars in front of him stopped, the car behind him pulled around, he said.

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“Luckily, the person who was crossing had made it across,” said Jones.

Jones reported he and dozens of parishioners had attended a Kiptopeke PTA meeting where Clemons and Chris Truckner, the school system’s director of operations, were present.

Jones said Truckner made a statement about the new routes, but did not allow for questions. Jones said he then approached Clemons, who was in that back of the room, and asked him to address the group. He refused.

Clemons said Thursday the PTA meeting was not a forum for transportation issues and that his office would accept questions about the bus route.

Truckner told the News this week the primary reason for making the changes was safety, “although efficiency was also a factor.”

He also said adjustments to routes are being considered on a case-by-case basis.

“We have investigated every safety concern and have made adjustments as needed,” he said.

Jones later said there was a difference between what the school division perceived as safety issues, and what the parents are concerned about.

“I keep hearing they are concerned about safety, but not about convenience to parents,” he said, noting that the school division seems to only be concerned with the operation of the bus, not the approach students have to make to the stop.

He added that some parents do not have cars, and it can be a mile to the bus stop without sidewalks.

“That’s not convenience. That’s reality,” he said.

Truckner also said a shortage of qualified drivers means fewer buses are running this year.

“At first it was five, then we found that there was a need for an additional bus due to crowding, so we now have four less routes,” Truckner said.

He added that they are relying on substitute drivers for the bus that was added, until a permanent driver can be hired.

Said Jones: “If there is a shortage of bus drivers, there should be an intentional pursuit of more drivers.”

Supervisors apparently had already been getting an earful from parents.

“Most of us have had complaints, and none of us is satisfied,” said District 4 Supervisor Rick Hubbard.

“Besides jumping on us, please jump on the school board.”

Board Chairman and District 1 Supervisor Willie Randall said he had witnessed a father and two young children walking along Route 13, apparently walking to the bus stop, with traffic whizzing by at up to 70 mph.

He proposed sending a letter to school board Chairman Richard Drury.

“They need to know how we feel,” Randall said.

Supervisor Oliver Bennett moved to delay approval of the budget requests, with the exception of $71,000 for repairs to the high school’s boiler, until bus complaints are resolved and the school division submits an operations and maintenance plan for its facilities, which Bennett said he has been requesting for several years.

“We owe it to the community to solve this where children will be safe,” said District 5 Supervisor Larry Trala.